Ken and his critics

The most thoughtful and even-handed response to Martin Bright’s Dispatches investigation into Ken Livingstone’s alleged cronyism and shady working practices—which we all missed cos we were working into the wee hours putting the February edition to bed—seems to me to be Paul Anderson’s column in Tribune.

Anderson agrees that it is slightly odd, if hardly chilling, that Ken has surrounded himself in City Hall with so many of his old Trot mates; and, more importantly, that this is a legitimate subject for journalistic inquiry—Ken’s attempts to get the programme pulled at the last-minute were absurd and clumsy. On the other hand, if you look at Ken’s record—more buses, the congestion charge, the Olympics—it hardly looks like the early shoots of worldwide proletarian revolution.

I have been very sceptical of Ken, particularly after he reneged on his promise not to stand as an independent candidate in the mayoral elections were he not to get the Labour nomination. But his record speaks for itself, and I was very impressed by the command of policy detail he displayed in his interview with Prospect last year.

Comments

St Trinians

January 26, 2008 at 14:03

It was short-sighted, perhaps, of C4 / Martin Bright's producer not to have provided Prospect with a review copy of this creepily- fascinating film of the naked emperor that is Ken Livingstone
Negligent too, perhaps, of Prospect's night owls not to have recorded the programme - given their having published an open
Valentine to Mayor Livingstone last year
Never too soon, one can now watch the dispatches film for free :
channel4.com/watch-online/
Doubtless the gruesome Livingstone ( an eye-witness to camera reports the fellow taking the lift clutching his whiffy breakfast tumbler of whiskey - what if fellow users are hungover ? ) was chief among the sneer-leading bad sports at C4 News VIEWERS voting for
The Countryside Alliance at this year's C4 News Political Awards
( channel 4 27.01.2008 )
Hopefully the public will soon also recognise the delectable brainiac Boris Johnson as by far the best man for the Mayoral seat ;
before walkers, cyclists and freedom ( CCTV is not programmed for number plate recognition alone ) to choose are a distant memory as London's beautiful skyline is sacrificed and its spirit completely burnt out by the bendy brained Nero that is forever rude red Ken

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